Quick Takes (v64): Unanimous Consent, or Something

People are buzzing about how the Senate "unanimously approved" making Daylight Savings Time, which most of us follow from late March t0 late October, permanent starting next year. 

Here's what we know about how the comically-named 'Sunshine Protection Act' made it through:

• It was 'passively' unanimous - meaning, when the vote was called, no one objected. It was not - at all - a case of 99 senators actively agreeing to make the decision;
• some senators don't have an opinion on the issue, others actively approve, and others actively disapprove of the idea; and
• some of them didn't even know the vote was going to be on the calendar.

I'm not kidding - that's what the folks at BuzzFeed reported.

Everyone Was Surprised by the Senate Passing Permanent Daylight Saving Time. Especially the Senators.

An inspiring story about how presumptuous Senate staffers can accidentally make history.

So, how did it all go down?

In a twist the Founding Fathers likely did not anticipate, quirky Senate conventions and a decision by staff in Sen. Tom Cotton’s office may result in an overhaul in the nation’s time zones. 

As the article explains, a bill needs to get through a Senate committee, and then the majority leader must agree to put it to a vote. That may or may not happen, depending on what the leader has as priorities. If it does get to the floor, there could be hours of debate and multiple rounds of votes, with 60 senators needing to approve the bill.

If a senator chooses to skip that process, they can ask for unanimous consent, which bypasses debate and all the voting. When that's the plan, all other senators are notified in advance, so they can object if they want. And, if no one objects, in advance or when the bill's called on the floor, it's "passed by unanimous consent." 

Any senator could have blocked passage of the bill.  The article notes that Florida Man Rick Scott, a fan of the bill, "would have gone to give a speech on the Senate floor" if he had known it was going to be discussed. Did I mention that the other Florida Man, Marco Rubio, was the sponsor?

Perhaps the funniest part of the article was this.

Asked to re-create his reaction to the news, Sen. Chris Coons issued a series of shocked stammers that is impossible to phonetically translate.

Coons was one of the senators who wasn't informed by his staff that the request was coming - and, he said, he'd never talked with them about the idea.

It’s literally an issue my staff and I had never discussed, and they made an assumption that I don’t really care about daylight saving time. And I don’t know if I do! I’ve never taken five minutes to stop and think about it.

Perhaps the senator most disturbed by the whole thing? Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who "vehemently opposes" permanent Daylight Saving Time. According to a source, Cotton's staff never told him about the request. 

Was it an accident? A nefarious plot by his staff? We may never know - but it might behoove someone to keep an eye on staffing changes in Cotton's office.